The DSL Collection was created in 2005 and focuses on contemporary Chinese art. It is a private collection representing 90 of the leading Chinese avant-garde artists, artists having a major influence on the development of contemporary art in China today. Even though focusing on the contemporary production of a specific culture, the collection is nevertheless not guided by the search for otherness. It admits basic cultural similarities and dispositions, however, goes beyond a simplistic approach looking for typical cultural signs and symbols.

The collection is limited to a specific number of art works - about 150 pieces - that as an entity is open to constant redefinition itself. Openness, movement and communication are basic qualities we want to promote

The collection is not only significant on a personal level, but also at a larger scale. We start from a museum approach, which means that we are collecting a wide range of media including painting, sculpture, installation, video, and photography. The choice of works further is not oriented on the trends of the market. To choose this kind of approach implies making the collection accessible for the public, as well as documenting the featured works.

The major tools to achieve these goals are new technologies, such as the internet and interactive programs and supports, like for example electronic books. These tools provide the means to share the experience of contemporary culture and to make it more accessible and meaningful for a broader public.

The dsl Collection was created in 2005 and focuses on contemporary Chinese art. It is a private collection currently representing 90 of the leading Chinese avant-garde artists, most of whom have a major influence on the development of contemporary art in China today.

The collection is not only significant on a personal level, but also on a larger scale. We start from a museum approach,which means that we are collecting a wide range of media including painting, sculpture, installation, photography, and video. To choose this kind of approach implies making the collection accessible for the public, as well as documenting the featured works.

The major tools to achieve these goals is the use of new technologies, such as the internet and interactive programs and supports. These tools provide the means to share the experience of contemporary culture and to make it more accessible and meaningful for a broader public.

How did we become interested in Chinese art?

Art is the mirror of a Society. When my wife and I came to Shanghai for the first time in 2005, I felt that the city embodies a ceaseless pursuit of the “superhuman” that redefines traditional definitions of humanity, sustainability, scale, and speed. Somehow these feelings were very inspiring and we wanted to find art and artists that express the relationships between contemporary art production and society. We are also interested by the Chinese artists who are living outside mainland China, in Taiwan, for instance, and mainly in the Chinese Diaspora in Europe and the United States. One should also not forget that apart from having a 5,000 year-old cultural history, China is the biggest cultural space in the world.

How is dsl collection different than other collections?

We never compare our collection with others because every collection is by nature unique. However, we follow strict personal guide lines in building our collection.

About Collecting, how do you approach it?

“Collecting,” is not “accumulating.” and it is not “investing.” It is acquiring objects that have some relation to each other and putting those objects into the kind of order that reflects the collector’s response to them. Each true collection achieves a personality beyond and apart from the sum of the objects.

What role does the Collector play?

The Collector should not take centre stage himself and should let the art itself be at the centre of the collection. Artists should be given the maximum spotlight. Its what the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist calls “the fundamental invisibility.”